As we head into 2024, it’s becoming very clear that there’s one social media platform you need to be on as a freelance dental writer and that’s LinkedIn.
Essentially, if you want your business to succeed then you need to put yourself where your clients are, and as LinkedIn is the platform where people go to do business, it pays to get yourself on there.
LinkedIn is the one social media channel that is business-focused and the place where business owners and leaders share ideas and look for others to help with their goals So if you can establish yourself as an authority and build a strong personal brand around the services you provide and what you do, it’s going to open a lot of doors.
The question is… how do you open those doors to give yourself opportunities to connect with clients?
By employing solid marketing strategies of course!
So that’s what we’re going to discuss today. In this post, I’ll talk about five LinkedIn marketing strategies you can adopt to help you build a sustainable and thriving business.
Before we get into it, I’ll let you into a secret…
I hadn’t done anything with LinkedIn until recently. Initially, I joined because, well… I thought I had to. So, I put up a profile and there it sat, gathering dust for ten long years!
It was only recently when I needed to kickstart my marketing that I realised how LinkedIn had changed. More and more people were using it and it was fast becoming the platform of choice for many influential business owners.
After re-familiarising myself with LinkedIn, I realised just how powerful the platform is. It didn’t take long to become connected with many influential people in the dental industry. However, that’s only because I did my research and employed solid marketing strategies that work, and that’s what I want to share with you today.
So let’s get into it…
#1 Position yourself for potential clients and not other freelancers
This is a mistake I see a lot of. The first thing many freelance writers do is they join writer groups or communities and they spend a lot of time engaging in discussion and networking with other writers posts. While it’s good to get connected with like-minded business owners there’s one thing to remember…
They are not your target audience!
Instead, you should be gearing all your content towards your target audience. Essentially when someone visits your LinkedIn page, you want them to look at it and say “Bingo, this is the person we want. They understand our industry, they get what we’re about.” The good news is that being in a specialised niche like dentistry makes this very easy to do.
So, this is what I do…
I try to ensure everything that I write or share on LinkedIn is dental-related. This includes posts and articles. I take a look at what’s going on in the dental world and post on news and technology that encourage comments. This could be stuff like the recent closure of Smile Direct Club, or the advancements in technology that are looking into growing teeth naturally. I’ll also write longer articles for LinkedIn on dental-related matters.
So when you go back to your profile and look at how you’re presenting yourself, ask this question…
If I was a potential client looking for content help would I hire me based on my recent posts and articles?
Be honest! If the answer is no, then you know what you’ve gotta do.
#2 – Optimise your profile
The best LinkedIn marketing strategies aren’t solely about establishing connections. They’re also about putting the basics in place. We’ve already talked about how your content should be client-focused and not freelancer-focused. The same is true for your profile.
It needs to be geared towards your client base. So if your current profile is a bit …meh… Look to change it up.
Essentially your profile is your sales page, so, treat it like a home page on your website. This means it should be clear about what you are and what you do.
So,
- Talk about different ways you can help clients.
- Talk about what you bring to the party that others don’t.
- Share testimonials from some of the clients you’ve worked with, and above all,
- Sell yourself.
Right now, the quieter January period is the ideal time to be doing stuff like this. It’s the first place that people look to find out more about who you are and what you do, so, it pays to make it work for you.
Suddenly, you’ve got a profile that encompasses the essence of what you do, alongside your newly-aligned content and before you know it, you’ve got something that not many people have – a winning LinkedIn marketing strategy.
#3 – Be proactive
If we think about social media marketing as a whole, the clue is in the name “social”. Remember there are real people involved here, so It doesn’t pay to write meaningful content if we’re expecting to sit back and let people come to us.
Instead, we need to be ‘social’ and actively engage with people. That means connecting with people in your target audience, actively commenting on stuff they have posted and posting insightful or helpful content yourself.
If you can spend 20-30 minutes a day on LinkedIn, connecting, commenting and posting you’ll be surprised at how many opportunities will open up for you.
#4 – Don’t post for posting’s sake
This is something else I see a lot of and it’s this…
People are under the impression that they have to post every day without fail and the end result is often a lot of random drivel. As an example, I saw one freelance writer had posted the following…
“It’s Christmas eve, eve, eve, eve, eve, eve, ewe, eve, eve, eve, eve, eve, eve. Oh, and can you spot where I’ve added an ewe?”
Now, if that doesn’t smack of posting desperation, I don’t know what does.
Listen, I don’t want to come across as ‘holier than thou’ or ‘bah humbug’, after all, I love to get in the party spirit as much as anyone. But it’s not like I didn’t know it was December the 24th and while I understand it was an attempt at light-hearted humour, LinkedIn probably wasn’t the best platform to post it on.
Here’s a top tip…
It’s okay not to post every day. In fact, it’s probably a good idea if you have nothing insightful helpful or informative to say. By all means, be consistent when you post but remember, this is a platform for business professionals, so if you run out of things to say and start posting random drivel, it might not show you in the best light.
Instead, if you are struggling with content, visit Chat GPT and ask it for 10 content ideas for LinkedIn posts in your industry. If you don’t like those then ask it for another ten, and so on, until you have some great ideas to make posts out of.
***Disclaimer… I’m not saying to copy the content directly from AI. Instead, you’re asking it to generate ideas. This should give you enough to come up with some great ideas for dental-related content****
#5 – Track and refine your performance
Now you’ve got everything in place and have started posting regularly, look back on your posts and see what type of content has seen the biggest responses, comments or shares. LinkedIn Analytics should provide a good overview of your page so, use this to refine your marketing strategy.
For example, a quick look at your analytics may show that your page performance has dropped off. Is this because you’ve introduced a new form of content, or is your audience engagement shrinking because you haven’t actively been commenting?
Essentially, a quick investigation should determine where you should be posting and what you should be posting, thus taking the guesswork out of it.
All you have to do then is do more of what works, rinse and repeat!
So, there you have it, 5 LinkedIn marketing strategies you’ll want to adopt.
LinkedIn really is your gateway to bigger and better clients and now is the time to find them.
Here’s to your success!
PS, if you’ve yet to start your dental writing business or are feeling a little hesitant, don’t worry, because I’ve got your back. Go to my website, download my free guide to getting started and subscribe to my blogs where I have a ton of information to help. If you have any questions you can always email me at [email protected] and I’ll point you in the right direction.